Portia Roelofs

I work on the politics of development with a focus on Nigeria.

About

​My ongoing research agenda focuses on normative politics in Africa, looking at how concepts like transparency, accountability and good governance are contested and leveraged in contemporary political competition. Find out more.

My PhD thesis challenged the mainstream interpretation of sub-national Nigerian politics as principled reformers vs. patronage politics. Taking the case study of Oyo State, the adoption of donor-endorsed good governance reforms from 2011 onwards is explained by party-based political economy considerations and deeply rooted, but highly contested, ideological commitments. These reforms were in practice re-purposed to meet electoral demands for popular conceptions of good governance. Read the abstract here.

I currently teach DV400 Development: History, Theory and Policy at the London School of Economics.

I also have a first class degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from the University of Oxford, a Masters in African Politics from SOAS, University of London and a PhD from the LSE. ​Full bio.